Month: November 2011

The inaugural season of X-Factor is drawing to a close, with the finale scheduled for December 22. Simon Cowell’s prediction of X-Factor drawing 20 million viewers has never been realized.

Matter of fact only 8.51 million viewers watched the results show last Wednesday night. The CMA awards hammered X-Factor in the ratings with 16 million viewers to 10 million viewers for X-Factor.

American Idol drew at least 20 million viewers to every show in 2011, while X-Factor has topped out around 12 million viewers for the entire season.

It was thought that reuniting Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul as judge-mentors would attract viewers, However, that has not seemed to make much difference in the ratings. It is clear that there is a lot of work that needs to be done, since right now X-Factor is not drawing half the fans of American Idol.

Steve Jones has been a major disappointment as the host of X-Factor, with his tendency to rush the judges, while they are giving their opinions of the singers. He definitely is not attracting viewers to the show, especially with his annoying personality. He is making Ryan Seacrest look much better, in contrast. Seacrest is a much smoother host and seems to really care about the contestants, but we don’t get that impression from Jones.

Jones is by far the most obnoxious host of any television show I have ever watched. Why Simon Cowell would hire this clown is beyond me. The most annoying thing, which may or may not be his fault, is the long pauses between telling which singers are advancing in the competition to the next week. It may be a case of him waiting on the producers to tell him the names of those advancing. Regardless, it looks silly to have so much dead air, while announcing the safe singers, then a few minutes later saying “We have to move on” incessantly as Jones rushes the judges, to make their decisions a few minutes later.

Paula Abdul’s groups have all been sent home and only Josh Krajcik remains of the over 30 singers, which Nicole Scherzinger has been mentoring.

I think the groups category should be eliminated next season, since voters don’t think in terms of groups, as much as solo acts. It was only a matter of time before LeRoy Bell and Stacy Francis were sent home, so that was no surprise.

So that leaves Simon Cowell with all three of his female singers still in the competition:

Rachel Crow has a real chance to win the competition, since she is one of the most likeable contestants on any singing competition show ever. Melanie Amaro to me is a better singer than Drew, but Simon seems to be pushing for Drew to win the competition. Amaro has the most powerful voice remaining in the competition, with maybe the exception of Krajcik, who can belt a song with the best of them.

L.A. Reid also has all three of his remaining singers, in the competition in Marcus Canty, Chris Rene and Astro. I think it is safe to say that Astro removed himself from the competition, with his childish behavior two weeks ago, when finding himself in the bottom two. He said all the right things last week, but the damage has been done. It is not a matter of if he is going home, but when he is going home. I just wonder what Astro will do, if they have a country music theme one week. Chris Rene may have the same problem, since I can’t picture him singing country music, nor can I picture Astro singing I Stopped Loving Her Today.

My personal favorite to win the competition is Chris Rene, but that is mainly because of his back story, not his singing ability. It would be the American dream story if he wins, going from being a garbage collector with a drug habit, to winning a $5 million recording contract, but it is not likely to happen. Marcus Canty found himself in the bottom two last week, so it may mean his time on X-Factor may be drawing to a close.

Josh Krajcik may be the best singer on the show, but I can’t see him having the kind of fan base to actually win the show. Melanie Amaro may have the same problem. My prediction to win the inaugural season of X-Factor is Rachel Crow. It is hers to lose.

It is hard to comprehend that 48 years have passed, since President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 22, a Friday morning that will live forever in history. I was subbing for the company postal clerk, who was on vacation, for the 25th Administration Company of the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii on that date and was the first to tell the company commander about the president being shot, after hearing the news on the radio. Meanwhile the regular postal clerk was flying military standby back to the mainland. He was trying to make a connection to New York City, from California, but was routed to Dallas, Texas of all places, arriving there about the time of the assassination.

Reading Warren Commission Report

I had a copy of the Warren Commission Report, that I had never really read until this last week. President Johnson commissioned the report a week after the assassination.

President Johnson was eager to have the Warren Report released, as soon as possible, to avoid having it contain any conspiracy theories, that might create doubt among the American public.

There is plenty of circumstantial evidence, that makes it appear that Lee Harvey Oswald fired the rifle, from the six floor window, of the Texas Schoolbook Depository building. Some witnesses on the ground reportedly saw a figure holding a gun, but as far as I know, nobody identified that figure as being Oswald. It is doubtful anyone could see someone inside a sixth story window, then be able to identify that person, since only their arms and the gun would be seen.

I am not saying that Oswald didn’t fire the shots, that killed President Kennedy and also wounded Texas Governor John Connally. He just appeared to be the one most likely to have fired the shots.

Lee Harvey Oswald: Portrait Of An Assassin

Lee Harvey Oswald had all the credentials of an assassin. He was a loner, that was an activist in liberal causes. He was a frustrated individual, who never really fit in with most political groups. He was living in Russia, thinking he had found a better way of living, but left when he saw their government didn’t care about the little people like him.

It wasn’t until after the assassination, that it was found out, that Oswald had attempted to shoot General Edwin Walker in his Dallas home on May 10, 1963. This shooting and the Kennedy assassination, proved that Oswald would just as soon shoot a conservative like Walker as well as a liberal like Kennedy.

By now everyone knows, that Oswald who never had a driver’s license told his co-worker Wesley Frazier, that he needed to go to Irving, Texas to pick up some curtain rods. He normally went to Irving on Fridays, but he needed those “curtain rods” for work on Friday, ostensibly to kill the president of the United States. Everyone also knows now, that those “curtain rods’ turned out to be the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found inside the sixth story window, of the Texas Schoolbook Depository building.

Why was Oswald in Mexico City two months before the assassination? It is still a mystery, to my knowledge, what he was doing in Mexico City. It is known that he was trying to secure a visa to Cuba through the Cuban embassy, but there is little record of what he was actually doing in Mexico City. There are even reports that another individual, had used Oswald’s name, during the time he was in Mexico City. If there was a conspiracy, this may have been where it was planned.

Patrolman M.L. Baker was in the Texas Schoolbook Depository, looking for the shooter, when he encountered Oswald in the lunchroom. Oswald from the reports I have read, showed no signs of being under duress, while Baker was holding a gun on him. His coolness in that situation sealed the fate of both Officer J.D. Tippit, who would be killed less than an hour later, when he stopped Oswald on a Dallas street. If Oswald had exhibited any fright or seemed to be in distress, it is likely that Patrolman Baker would have arrested him in the lunchroom.

Oswald would have been without a weapon and presumably would have been taken to the police station without incident. However, Oswald may have tried to take the policeman’s gun, which could have been deadly.

There are so many incidents that day that could have changed history. Officer Tippit could have just as easily killed Oswald, instead of being gunned down himself by Oswald. That would have prevented the circus that ensued at the police station, after Oswald was arrested at the theater. History would have changed if Officer Tippit had stopped Oswald before he had a chance to receive his gun from the North Beckley residence.

Oswald allegedly fired his first shot at President Kennedy at 12:30 PM Dallas time. He encounters Patrolman Baker in the lunchroom and is leaving the Texas Schoolbook Depository by 12:33 PM. The building is reportedly sealed at 12:48, enabling Oswald to make his getaway. President Kennedy arrives at Parkland Hospital at 12:38 PM. Dallas Police homicide chief, who is awaiting the arrival of President Kennedy calls at 12:51 to ask if Kennedy is still coming to the Trade Mart for the luncheon in his honor, but is told it is very doubtful and in reality, Kennedy was dead nine minutes later.

By 1:00 Oswald has killed Officer Tippit and is seen entering the Texas Theater, while President Kennedy is being pronounced dead at that same minute.

Dallas police car #207 honks horn twice outside the Oswald house. This doesn’t sound very believable, so may not have even happened. Since when do police warn a criminal that they are outside their house?

The following timeline gives an interesting look at the events of that day. However, it can’t be taken too seriously accuracy wise, as it has Oswald arriving at the Texas Theater, ten minutes before Officer Tippit is found dead in the street, which doesn’t sound right to me.

Rose Cheramie was en route to Dallas with some other criminal types and said this about her reasons for being in Dallas:

“She said she was going to, number one, pick up some money, pick up her baby, and to kill Kennedy.” (p. 9 of Fruge’s 4/18/78 deposition)

While at the hospital Cheramie predicted the precise moment the assassination would take place:

At the hospital, Cheramie again predicted the assassination. On November 22nd, several nurses were watching television with Cheramie. According to these witnesses, “…during the telecast moments before Kennedy was shot Rose Cheramie stated to them, ‘This is when it is going to happen’ and at that moment Kennedy was assassinated. The nurses, in turn, told others of Cheramie’s prognostication.” (Memo of Frank Meloche to Louis Ivon, 5/22/67. Although the Dallas motorcade was not broadcast live on the major networks, the nurses were likely referring to the spot reports that circulated through local channels in the vicinity of the trip. Of course, the assassination itself was reported on by network television almost immediately after it happened.) Further, according to a psychiatrist there, Dr. Victor Weiss, Rose “…told him that she knew both Ruby and Oswald and had seen them sitting together on occasions at Ruby’s club.” (Ibid., 3/13/67) In fact, Fruge later confirmed the fact that she had worked as a stripper for Ruby. (Louisiana State Police report of 4/4/67.)

There is reportedly no mention of Cheramie in the Warren Report. You would think someone who accurately predicted the moment President Kennedy would be shot, would be taken more seriously by the Warren Commission, but then that would back up the conspiracy theorists, which the Warren commission avoided at all costs.

It is not so much a matter if Oswald shot Kennedy but more of a matter, of was he aided by a conspiracy. Kennedy had a myriad of enemies, who wanted him dead. They included the unions, mobsters, Castro, KGB, possibly the CIA who were peeved at Kennedy for withdrawing air support for the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Even President Johnson has been mentioned as someone, who would like to see Kennedy dead, since he had the most to gain (the presidency). One online report even states that Oswald was seen at Johnson’s ranch in Mexico. That may be a false report, but worth looking into.

Jack Ruby Becomes Prosecutor and Jury, Killing Oswald

Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby, showed up at the police station on the Friday night of the assassination, to see the Oswald press conference. Ruby became emotionally distraught over the death of Kennedy and decided the American people would never have the chance to know if there was a conspiracy, behind the assassination of Kennedy.

Ruby singlehandedly started a wave of books about the assassination, since Americans would never know about any conspiracies, since Oswald was dead and dead men tell no tales.

Hundreds of books have been written about the assassination. The Warren Commission Report has focused on proving that Oswald was the lone gunman in Dallas 48 years ago. They seemed to have glossed over any conspiracy theories. Oswald was a very shady character, who was all over the place and may have been covering up for some sinister group of conspiracists.

It is still a mystery of how Ruby was in the basement of the Dallas Police station on Sunday, November 24 and how he got in there. He reportedly arrived in the basement a couple of minutes before Oswald was to be moved to another facility.

Ruby said he killed Oswald, because he hated that Jackie Kennedy would have to return to Dallas for the trial of Lee Harvey Oswald.

Summary

I am not saying that the Warren Commission was a complete cover-up, but it seemed to be intent, on promoting the lone gunman theory. By not admitting a conspiracy was possible, it took a lot of the enemies of Kennedy off the hook, including the new president Lyndon B. Johnson, who was relegated to being a do-nothing vice president, until Kennedy’s death, propelled him to the presidency.

He was no longer the second banana to President Kennedy and his inner circle. The only reason Kennedy chose Johnson as a running mate, was so that he could garner some southern votes, attracted by Johnson being on the ticket as vice-president.

After 48 years, there is still no smoking gun that I know of that points to anyone besides Oswald being the assassin. I have heard for years about shots coming from the grassy knoll, but don’t think it is even mentioned in the Warren Report.

There are a lot of what-ifs that came into play on November 22, 1963:

What if it had rained that day and the bubble-top would have been down, ruining any chance of any assassin shooting the president?

What if Patrolman Baker would have arrested Oswald before leaving the schoolbook depository, which would have saved the life of Officer Tippit?

What if someone had walked in on the shooter from the sixth floor window seconds before the first shot?

What if the Dallas Police department had kept the crowds under control at the police station, during the interrogation of Oswald?

What if someone had stopped Ruby from entering the basement of the police station?

What if someone had taken Rose Cheramie seriously and prevented the assassination?

JFKLancer.com has some very interesting observations about what the Warren Commission Report failed to tell the American people:

Song From Moulin Rouge by Percy Faith Orchestra was the No.1 song in 1953.

It was hard to believe that the first major rock and roll song, Shake, Rattle and Roll by Bill Haley and the Comets, would break into the Top 30 list, the next year 1954 ending in the No.26 spot. Bill Haley would come back in 1955, for his monster hit Rock Around the Clock, which went to No.2 on the chart.

The country had gone from an easy listening orchestra song in 1953, to two of the rocking and rollingest songs ever, in the space of two years.

These are some of the songs that were on the 1953 list, that began the end of the easy listening music era:

No. 2: Vaya Con Dios – Les Paul and Mary Ford

No. 3: How Much Is That Doggie In The Window – Patti Page….It was a novelty song that I can remember from Your Hit Parade Days.

No.8: No Other Love – Perry Como

No.9: Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes – Perry Como….Como had a third song on the list also Say Your Mine at No.21

No.12: Ebb Tide – Frank Chacksfield Orchestra….One of the classic easy listening songs of all time. The orchestra also had the No.27 song Limelight on the 1953 chart.

No.19: Rags To Riches – Tony Bennett….One of the few singers who had a long career despite rock and roll taking over the charts.

No.22: Dragnet – Ray Anthony Orchestra….Theme song from the television show Dragnet.

One of my favorite singers Joni James singing Why Don’t You Believe Me which was No.25 in 1953. She also had No.26 Your Cheating Heart and No.30 Have You Heard.

1953 chart represented a smorgasbord of musical tastes, from orchestra music, to novelty tunes, to the great crooners like Perry Como, Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett, groups like Hilltoppers, Ames Brothers and Gaylords, up and coming stars like Joni James, who would miss years of singing, while taking care of her very sick husband.

At the end of 1953, nobody probably even thought, that in 1956 Elvis Presley would have five songs in the Top 30, with Carl Perkins and Gene Vincent, also having rock and roll songs, plus Bill Doggett had his instrumental hit Honky Tonk, which clearly was not an easy listening recording.

1956 emphasized even more that the easy listening era, was coming to an end. There were still some crooners and orchestras on the 1956 list. It is safe to say that 1957 was the year that rock n’ rollers took over the charts, 25 rock and roll songs making the top 30.

The easy listening era was over. We can still listen to old records and cassettes from the past, but it looks like rock n’ roll is here to stay, until the next best thing comes along.

The Bobhorst.com website lists the Top songs of each year from 1946-2010. The list expanded from Top 30 to Top 100. The link will take readers to the 1953 charts, but it can be switched to any year easily.

Lois Sinnes, 82 was planning on living out the rest of her life, in the same community she grew up in. However, due to the oil boom in North Dakota, she was forced to move out by a greedy slumlord, who tripled her rent.

Sinnes is now living 230 miles away, after her landlord almost tripled, her $700 a month rent. What kind of person would force an 82-year-old woman, to leave the community she grew up in? A person who is a greedy, money-loving scumbag, who lets the mighty dollar rule his or her life, ignoring the effect it has on those, who can’t afford the exorbitant rent being charged. This landlord even had the nerve, to charge a $2,000 security deposit, to clients already living in the apartments.

There could still be a happy ending for Sennes, since she owns mineral rights, in the area and could sell those rights to drillers. She says she will return one way or the other, since she will be buried in town next to her husband. For right now, she is living in a town 230 miles away and doesn’t know what the future holds.

Some two bedroom apartments, in the area, are being rented for $2,000 a month. An ordinary mobile home is on the market for $149,500. There is not nearly enough housing, for the influx of oil workers, so some workers are living in their cars and tents.

Compassionate Landlord

Mayo Miller 80, is fortunate that her landlord hasn’t raised her rent. She is paying $550 a month and delivers her rent check in person to thank her landlord, who is showing that there are some compassionate landlords left in the area.

It is good to know that money is not what drives her landlord. Otherwise, her landlord would be gouging the renters, like the slumlords who couldn’t care any less than they do, about the seniors being forced to leave their residences. Her landlord who realizes, not everyone is getting rich off the oil boom, could be charging Miller $3,000 a month for the apartment, but is doing the right thing, by letting her stay in her apartment.

Oil Boom Providing Jobs

The oil boom is providing jobs to thousands of workers, who are moving into the area. That is the main positive of the oil boom. However there is a huge negative, in that the oil boom encourages price gouging, knowing that the oil workers are being well-paid. Their gouging is not hurting the oil workers, once they get a few paychecks in the bank, but the people living on fixed incomes are seeing their dreams, of living their golden years peacefully, in their hometown, being shattered by unscrupulous landlords.

To Gouge Or Not To Gouge?

Decisions are being made everyday, in the oil patch area. Landlords are having to decide, whether to do the right thing or join the crowd and start gouging their tenants, to inflate their bank accounts.

Senior Citizens Making Tough Decisions

The senior citizens and other tenants are having to make life-changing decisions, like finding a place to live, in another city or state, knowing their lives will not end the way they planned. Instead they are the victims of an oil boom, that creates job, but also creates victims of that oil boom.

Some of these landlords may later regret driving these senior citizens, from their residences, but it won’t make things any better, for the residents who are now living hundreds of miles away, from the hometown that they grew up in.

Photos from the wedding of Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries: Was anything about this wedding real?

When Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries exchanged wedding vows on August 20,2011, it looked they were headed, to a lifetime of happiness. However, that happiness came to a screeching halt when Kim Kardashian, decided 72 days later, that she didn’t really want to be married to Kris Humphries and filed for divorce.

Now Kim’s former publicist Jonathan Jaxson says, that the wedding was staged for the benefit, of the E channel which was televising the nuptials. Jaxson who says Kardashian didn’t pay money owed to him, so it may be a case of sour grapes, but then it could have been, only a ploy for ratings.

Jaxson is quoted in this article revealing how Kim loved to be the center of attention, to the point of creating unreal situations:

The publicist explained of their previous working relatinship, “I staged so many paparazzi moments for her…I arranged for her to be coming out of a jewelry store and made it look like Reggie was planning to propose to her.

“She would call and tell me to alert the press so there were cameras there whenever anything happened,” he revealed to the Radar. “Reggie cottoned onto it and he didn’t like it, that was part of the reason they split up. He couldn’t handle the fame and her desire for it.”

After the wedding, Kourtney and Kim Take New York began filming, creating a perfect situation, when E cameras would be rolling for the drama, between the not so happy newlyweds.

Then after the filming was completed, Kim filed for divorce, knowing she and executive producer Ryan Seacrest, had no more use for Kris.

Kim’s mom Kris Jenner, has denied that the wedding was staged, but that is hard to believe, knowing her history of promoting the Kardashian name. There is no way she is going to admit it was staged, whether it was or not.

Ratings of Kourtney and Kim Take New York

The ratings of Kourtney and Kim Take New York, will be closely watched by the E channel executives and by Ryan Seacrest, who created the show. If ratings tumble after an apparently staged wedding for television purposes, then the Kardashians may slowly disappear from cable television.

We soon should know some answers when the show debuts in its new season later this month. Kim Kardashian may have sensed, that living in Minnesota, with Humphries would diminish her popularity and chose divorce over settling down with her husband.

Kim Voted Most Annoying By Parade Magazine

It was no surprise that a Parade magazine poll listed Kim Kardashian as the most annoying person with 29 percent of the vote compared, to second place Charlie Sheen, with 27 percent of the vote. Snooki came in third, with 21 percent of the vote.

E channel is bombarding us with three Kardashian series which rotate during the year, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Khloe and Lamar and the aforementioned Kourtney and Kim Take New York.

The wedding may or not have been staged, but a lot of fans will wonder if it was, after the sudden divorce, after 72 days of marriage.

This is just my opinion, but I think that the Kardashians have killed the reality television star, showing us that nothing about the Kardashians is real. Producers know viewers don’t want, to see the Kardashian family sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows, so they give us drama and a lot of it.

It makes me wonder now if Scott Disick even really hurt his hand, as badly as shown on television. The Las Vegas incident in which Disick stuffs bills in the mouth of a waiter, seems staged to me. If that really happened, it seemed like he would have been escorted out of the building, which I don’t remember happening.

If the Kardashian producers and other reality television show producers, are playing viewers for fools, they better hold on to their money, because their money train could be coming to a screeching halt very soon.

The reality TV star may not be dead, but could be in its death throes today.

There should be a name change in the future for 19 Kids and Counting as Michelle Duggar and her husband Jim Bob Duggar, announced on Today show, that they are expecting a 20th child in April. Jim Bob said they didn’t want to stop at an uneven number.

It is surprising that they would want another baby, after the problems experienced last time, for both mother Michelle and daughter Josie as detailed in this paragraph from the article at msnbc.com.

Michelle Duggar’s last pregnancy was fraught with danger. She suffered from gall-bladder problems as well as preeclampsia. In order to save her life, doctors delivered daughter Josie three and a half months prematurely – she weighed only one pound, six ounces at birth, and endured a series of health emergencies, including a perforated bowel. Josie eventually went home with the rest of the Duggar family, and is now a healthy toddler who will celebrate her second birthday in December.

It is hard to believe that they would take the chance of losing the mother or baby again, after what happened last time.

Rachel Crow’s adoptive mother Barbara Crow has related to the New York Post that Rachel of X-Factor, was born a crack baby. She lived in a crack house and suffered abuse. It was good to know that she was taken out of that environment, then overcame that to have a chance of winning a $5 million recording contract on X-Factor.